I'm Only Me When I'm With You
by TimeLady-12
Summary: Emily Williams is more than meets the eye. When she meets Steve Rogers, she's not sure what to expect, and it can only get worse when the Avengers get involved. Set before and during the Avengers. Steve/OC


Chapter One- First Meetings

I don't own anything Marvel. I only own my own characters.

Emily Williams sighed. It had been a long day, and she was very tired. She worked as a waitress at a local café, and, since it was one of the first days of the summer holidays, they'd had a lot of people coming in that day. Emily didn't mind. She was one of the few people that actually enjoyed working there. It was a relaxed atmosphere most of the time, and most of the people that came were generally polite and easy to talk to. She only worked there part time. She was actually studying at university. She'd already got a PhD in quantum physics, but she'd gone back for a degree in molecular biology.

"Amy, I'm heading home!" she shouted as she turned the 'open' sign to 'closed'.

"Ok! Stay safe, hun."

"Will do." Emily tugged on her jacket as she opened the door. It was just the beginning of summer, so by ten at night, it was still a bit nippy outside. Emily was, in her opinion, fairly average looking. She was around 5'6, had blue-grey eyes and a light dusting of freckles across her nose and on her cheeks. She was relatively thin but curvy, and, the one thing that she liked about herself was her long, wavy ginger hair that reached midway down her back.

Walking down the street to her apartment, Emily looked up. Living in New York City, you were never able to see any stars in the sky because of all the lights. It was something she missed from when she travelled. Suddenly she felt herself colliding with a hard object, making her fall to the floor. That will teach you to stare at the sky as you're walking, she thought to herself.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Ma'am. Here." Emily looked up to see a hand held out in front of her. Smiling, she took it and picked herself up of the floor.

"Don't be sorry. It's my own fault. I should pay attention to where I'm going." Emily laughed. She looked up to face the man who she bumped in to. He was tall, about 6'2, she'd guess, with blonde hair and very blue eyes. After about a minute, Emily heard him clear his throat. "Um, sorry, what?"

"I said my name is Steve Rogers."

"Oh, right. Yeah. Emily Williams." She stuttered.

Steve smiled. Here he was, coming home late from the gym, and he walks into a beautiful woman. Well, she walks into him, but all the same. She had long, almost red hair, and a small smile that never seemed to leave her face.

"You know." He said. "A young woman like you shouldn't be walked about New York City on your own, especially in the dark."

"Oh, well, you know how it is. I just got out of work, actually, and my apartments not that far away."

"Well, Miss Williams, would you allow me to accompany you back home?"

Emily hesitated. Anyone with common sense would, in her opinion. She knew better than to walk off on her own with a strange man she'd just met. But on the other hand, she thought, the streets were not exactly void of other people, and he seemed genuinely nice. Plus, she knew how to take care of herself if things turned ugly, she smirked.

"Sure." She replied, smiling.

The walk back was pretty quiet. But not uncomfortable. And Emily had to admit having company was better than walking alone.

"So, where do you work?" asked Steve. "If you don't mind me asking." He added quickly. He knew some people didn't like being asked personal questions like that.

"Just a café further down the road. I don't usually get back this late, but it was a busy day so…"

"I don't think I've been there. I'll have to give it a try."

"You should. They do a mean chocolate chip cookie." The two of them laughed before falling back into silence. "Well, this is me." Said Emily, looking at her apartment complex.

"Oh, right. Ok." Stuttered Steve.

"So, thanks for walking me back. Good to know I've not been attacked or anything." She joked.

"Yeah…"

"I'll, er, I'll see you around then. Maybe catch you in the café tomorrow."

"Definitely." Agreed Steve. He wasn't about to pass an opportunity to see this girl again. He barely knew her, but there was something about her that made him feel comfortable, and in this day and age, that was something that was very rare.

"Right. See ya." Steve stood outside until Emily was completely out of sight before going to walk home. His apartment wasn't all that far away from where he was, so it wasn't a very far walk, but he soon realised, there was probably a lot of café's down that street, and he had no idea which one she worked in. he figured he'd just have to see which one she was in. But in truth, he hadn't been to any café down there. He generally did eat out (he wasn't a particularly good cook), but he normally went to places nearer his apartment.

Emily, on the other hand, was wondering what on earth had made her basically invite a guy she'd never met before to where she worked the next day. She never did that. Not that she spoke to many guys anyway. But, strangely, when she thought about it, she didn't mind. She enjoyed his company. Getting into bed that night, she couldn't wait to get to work the next morning.

-8-

Getting up the next morning, Emily got changed into a floral skirt and white vest top with a blazer and pumps. It was looking to be a nice day in New York City, and she hoped that the café wouldn't be too busy that day.

The walk to work didn't take her long, and she was soon in the back room decorating the cupcakes with various icing and pattern designs. She never did any of the cooking (she was pretty sure she'd burn the kitchen down; she'd already done that once), so Amy did that, and let her do the decorations, which looked pretty darn good if she did say so herself. By 9am, the café was open, and Emily was busy making coffee for all those going to work. This was her favourite part of the day. All she needed to do was press 'go' on the coffee machine, and it did all of the work.

"Emily, you can go on your break now, if you want." Said Amy around three hours later. They'd come to discover that lunch rush didn't actually start at twelve, but nearer one, so it was easier if she took her break earlier, rather than later.

"Thanks Amy." She replied, going into the back room to collect her laptop and something to eat. Most days in her breaks, she sat in a booth in the corner to work on any essays and other work that needed to be handed in. Grabbing a cheese toasty and a cupcake, she sat down and started on her essay.

She'd been sat there for about half an hour when she felt a shadow over her. Looking up, she saw Steve grinning shyly at her.

"Hey."

"Hey. I'm not interrupting, am I? You look busy."

"No, not at all. Are you here for lunch?"

"Yeah, but I can just go to the counter. You look like you're on your break so…"

"Don't be silly. I practically asked you to come. So, what would you like?"

"Just a sandwich would be ok, Ma'am. And one of those cookies you spoke so highly about?" he asked. He scolded himself in his head. Why did he always have to sound so shy when he was talking to her?

"Oh yeah. I saved one, just in case." Said Emily, rushing off around the counter to get his order. "They usually get sold out pretty quickly. I wish I could take credit for making them, but I'd probably murder them if I tried."

"I know the feeling." Agreed Steve.

"Here you go. On the house." She said as Steve opened his mouth to ask for the bill.

"Thank you, Ma'am."

"You know, I've never heard anyone around here say things like that."

"Like what?"

"Things like, `Ma'am`, you know? And offering to escort a woman home. People don't often do that nowadays. Or so I've heard."

"Well, I was raised good and proper. And, so you've heard?"

"I don't really remember all that much from my childhood." Waved off Emily. Sensing her discomfort with the way the conversation was heading, Steve quickly changed the subject.

"So, what are you working on?"

"Oh, just a thing for university. I have to write an essay on the cellular compartments of prokaryotes and eukaryotes: organization, dynamics and functions."

"I didn't understand a word of that, I'm afraid."

"It's actually not as hard as it sounds. It's basically just about what's inside animal, plant and bacteria cells, and how they make the cells function. It's a lot of detail, but not that hard to explain if you know what to put."

"I'll take your word for it." Laughed Steve.

"Good choice. So, what have you been doing with your day?"

"I've just been to the gym for a few hours. Let off a bit of steam." Replied Steve. This didn't really surprise Emily. With a body like Steve's (not that she'd been looking of course) it was hard to believe that he didn't frequently go the gym. They spent the rest of Emily's break just talking about random things. Like, Steve found out her favourite colour was blue (she'd only said that because she was looking at his eyes at the time, and blurted that colour out), she'd already got a PhD in quantum physics, which he found extremely impressive, and she didn't really know all that many people here. This was something that made Steve happy, although he knew it probably shouldn't. But, Steve thought, if she didn't know many people, that was all the more reason why they could spend more time together, right? It was scary how much he wanted to spend all his time with her compared to the time he'd actually known her.

"Emily!" Amy's voice snapped Steve out of his thoughts. "You're fifteen minutes late for your shift!"

"I am?"

"Yes."

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I just got a little, er… a little preoccupied."

"I can see that. Now go on, I need a break. I had a late night last night, and I am shattered."

"Right, yeah. Sorry Steve. Looks like we'll have to continue this conversation later."

"How about over dinner?" asked Steve. Although he regretted asking that as soon as it came out of his mouth. Was it too soon to ask that? They'd only known each other for less than a day. What if she just laughed in his face and taunted him? "I mean, if…"

"Yeah, ok." Replied Emily, calmly. Although on the inside, she was screaming. Had that just happened?

"Really?"

"Yeah. I should finish at half six this evening. So, I don't know what you want to do…"

"I'll meet you here. If… that's ok with you?"

"Perfect. Anyway, I really need to get back to work. I'll see ya later."

Steve watched as she packed away her laptop and got to serving the customers. She constantly had a smile on her face, and he was unsure whether that was because she was usually like that, or because of their conversation earlier, although he highly doubted that.

Steve stayed at the café for another hour before heading home. He was still in his gym clothes, and he was sure he stank. In hind's sight, he wasn't sure why he went straight there. What Emily thought of him was anyone's guess. But she'd agreed to have dinner with him, so she must like him a little, at least.

With that thought in mind, Steve went back home to prepare for that night. He might have been making a big deal out of nothing (he hadn't exactly had much experience with the female gender), but he wanted tonight to be something special.

-8-

A/N: so here is the first chapter of my avengers fanfic! I hope it's ok, and I promise it will get better. This does go through the events of the avengers, so the others will be coming into this eventually. And there is a lot to Emily that we don't know yet. Only time will tell! I'm also not sure how well I'm writing Steve yet. So any advice is welcome:)

Please favourite and review! 3


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